The Text
2 Samuel 11:1-5, 26-27; 12:1-9; Psalm 51:1-9 [10-12]
Last Time on ‘The Story’
We left the story with Joshua and the early tribal confederation of the children of Israel. After several increasingly problematic Judges, God raises up a new kind of leader. 1st Samuel, the first of the two volume set (in our version anyways), starts with the familiar story of a barren woman in a polygamous marriage. The twist is that Hannah prays to the LORD on her own behalf, and her prayer is granted through the word of Eli, the High Priest. Hannah promises that her son will serve the LORD, and she drops him off with Eli (who has already done a stellar job with his own sons, NOT!). The boy, Samuel, grows up to be functionally the High Priest (though he is not a Levite), but also a Judge, and mostly something new, a prophet. Samuel leads the people for quite a while, but he has the same problem as Eli, and has raised bonehead sons who misuse their power. The people are tired of waiting around for the LORD to raise up rulers, so they ask for a king (just like everyone else). Samuel says no, but God says yes. Samuel gives a few lectures about how bad an idea it will be to have a king (things like taxes, a standing army, and the fact that the nation’s righteousness will be judged by the righteousness of one powerful man (foreshadowing much?)). The first king crowned is Saul, from the tiny tribe of Benjamin. Saul is tall and has a lot of potential, but also an ego. He makes two major mistakes (both times defining good for himself rather than taking the definition of good from God(?) through Samuel) and is rejected as king. He is however not dethroned; so, much of the rest of 1st Samuel is a power struggle between Saul and the “man after God’s own heart” who has been anointed as the next king. David, the anointed one, is the youngest son of Jesse (sound familiar). David shows up on the national stage when he defeats the giant, Goliath by trusting in the moral of the Deuteronomistic Histories, ‘if God is on our side, we can’t not win.’ He develops a deep and intimate friendship with Jonathan, Saul’s son. Saul suffers from what I think is bipolar disorder and/or schizophrenia, and becomes increasingly convinced that David is out for his throne. After several assassination attempts, David finally skips town (Hebron at this point), and spends the rest of the book running away from Saul, not killing him, writing Psalms in caves, and gathering an army of misfits called ‘David’s mighty men’. 1st Samuel ends with the death of Saul and Jonathan (and a good deal of the army of Israel) in a battle with the Philistines. 2nd Samuel tells the tale of David being first crowned by the southern tribes, and then the northern tribes, and consolidating his power in the city of the Jebusites, renamed Jerusalem. David is now comfortably the king of all of the tribes, maybe a little too comfortable.
Today’s Story
Springtime for David, and Israel: The setting of time and place is very important in this story. First there is the establishment of the usual course of events. It is spring time, the time when kings usually go to war. This is the nature of things in the early days of Israel’s life as a nation. They are still not much more than a loose confederation of tribes, surrounded by a whole list of Canaanite tribes who are not exactly pleased that they have been displaced. Apparently, every year, in the spring, there would be renewed border conflicts as the tribes of Israel and these Canaanite tribes sought to gain more territory, defend the territory that they had already claimed, and/or reclaim territory that had been lost. This particular spring, the army of the tribes of Israel were attempting to take the Ammonite city of Rabbah. Of course, this is continuing the militaristic model of the Deuteronomic Histories, which we need to continue to struggle with.
The kings of each tribe or nation would normally lead their armies in the field. However, there is a very important king missing. David, the king of the tribes of Israel has sent Joab, his general to Rabbah, and stayed in Jerusalem. No reason is given for David’s absence, he just is not showing up. Whatever the reason is, however, if he had been ‘where he was supposed to be’ none of the following events would have happened.
One of the big takeaways for the 21st Century American church here is comfort. Our institutional church is pretty fat and happy. We are very comfortable operating out of a late-christendom model where the wider culture does much of the work for us, and most people are obligated to go to church. Military overtones aside, we should be out in our communities getting to know and serving our neighbors. We should be actively engaged in the battles of justice going on around us, following our liberative God in a preferential option for the poor, marginalized, and downtrodden. We should be dismantling structural racism, centering our economy around people rather than profit, and having fruitful conversations in the public sphere. But, that is hard, and we would rather sit in our fortresses shaped like sanctuaries, and bad-mouth all those people who left. We sit on our rooftops and remember the hay-day of the 1950’s where our churches were fuller, more prosperous (and powerful), and whiter.
The Rape of Bathsheba: We need to be honest about the situation here. This is not a story of two equal and consensual adults. David sees a naked woman from his palace rooftop, and desires her. He makes inquiries about who she is, and finds that she is Bathsheba, the daughter of Elliam, and the wife of Uriah, a Hittite convert, and one of David’s Mighty Men. He has seen a beautiful woman from his rooftop, like a casual glance on Pornhub. Now he has found out who she is, the wife and daughter of members of his army, his inner circle. At this point, beside his absence from the battlefield, he hasn’t done anything wrong, per-se. However, with what happens next, David’s actions turn from lecherous to licentious. He sends messengers to retrieve her and “he lay with her.” The victorianized version, using the tamest euphemism there is, does not change the fact that there is an obscene power difference between them. He, as king, summons Bethsheba, what is she going to do, refuse? When summoned, it’s not like he trips and accidentally falls into her vigina, David misuses his power as her sovereign, and orders her to have sex with him. Her feelings on the situation, her willingness or unwillingness, is completely irrelevant. She does not have an actual choice here, the potential repercussions of refusal are way too high. This is also not just a booty-call. Biology lesson: we are told that she was participating in a post-menstrual Mikvah or ritual bathing, meaning it would be a week and a half to two weeks before she ovulates. Unless Bathsheba’s cycle is totally different, David has super sperm, or the timing just happens to be just right (or wrong, depending on who you ask); this was not the only time that he ‘fetched her.’
This is maybe the oldest story. Someone in power using their influence to sexually exploit those under them (pun originally unintended, but now acknowledged). Of course, we can think of political leaders who misuse their power for sex, it’s accepted and maybe even expected beltway behavior (regardless of party affiliation). We can also think of cases in our sibling churches where sexual abuse is perpetrated and covered-up, ecclesiastical systems of patriarchal abuse which ultimately protect abusers, and ignore and/or hush victims. Sexual abuse is one of those problems which is easier to see and hear about for others, but is very difficult to hear about ourselves. This last summer, the 225th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) heard the report of the Survivors of Sexual Misconduct Task Force which listened to, and in some cases was made up of, those within the PC(USA) who had experienced the trauma of sexual abuse from congregational leaders. They spoke hard truths about those within our denomination who were survivors of sexual misconduct, and whose who perpetrated such atrocities. As is too often the case, some of the abusers escaped punishment, and many had more than one victim. The Task Force recommended several changes to the Book of Order (our Constitution), which will be voted on in the coming months by Presbyteries, in order to shine a light on the dark shadows of our own institution. These amendments call for boundary training for all ordained church leaders (even the ones that everyone knows couldn’t possibly do such a thing, which are sometimes the ones who do). This will not only help fewer would-be assailants from falling into these patterns, but also increase the number of people who can notice the signs of abuse. These recommendations strengthen the oversight, especially at the Presbytery level, to consider the actions of those going into ministry, and more robustly investigate those accused of sexual misconduct. Training like this is already mandatory in many fields, notably education, and is contributing to a wider awareness of sexual abuse and misconduct. These amendments are by no means perfect, but I am pleased to be a part of a denomination which is not only taking this important issue seriously, but actively working to support victims and reduce the number of those who are abused in the first place.
The Murder of Uriah: The bit we skip over in the given pericape, is David’s next move. Like the sit-com trope, David covers one mistake with more, leading to Uriah’s death (not as common for a sit-com trope). After finding out that Bathsheba is pregnant, David orders Uriah back to Jerusalem for a ‘report’ on how the war is going. After the report, David liquors Uriah up, and sends him home for sexytime with his wife. However, Uriah refuses to enjoy the comforts of his wife (or even his own bed) while the rest of the army is encamped on the battlefield (the narrative practically drips with irony, especially since Uriah is not even an Israelite). David tries a second time, and Uriah sleeps with the slaves of the palace (not a euphemism) rather than his own house. Finally, David sends Uriah back with a letter to Joab with instructions to send Uriah into the fiercest fighting and then withdraw the other troops. Joab is no stranger to underhanded deeds, he once stabbed Abner, the general of the Northern Tribes, in the back under the pretense of peaceful negotiations. Uriah the Hittite is soon killed, his only crime being more righteous than the king, and having a smokin-hot wife (apparently). After an appropriate time of mourning, David marries Bathsheba, and she bears him a son.
God’s Response: At this point, the LORD (who has been noticeably absent from the narrative up to this point) expresses divine displeasure. God sends Nathan, the prophet, to David with a very clever ploy. Nathan tells a sob story of a man with a beloved sheep which is stolen by his neighbor with many sheep. David is incensed by this hypothetical injustice, and declares the death penalty. “You are the man!” Nathan declares, using David’s own judgment against him. Interestingly, Nathan does not begin the litany of David’s offenses with the death of Uriah or the rape of Bathsheba, but with all that God has given to David. The LORD, through Nathan, reminds David that he has been anointed to be king, that God saved him from the crazy machinations of Saul, and David has now been made the king of all the tribes of Israel. David has all that he has, including his power, because God has given these things to him (sounding familiar?). But what does David do with that power and authority? His lazy butt misuses his power for some tail, and then tries to cover it up with some light murder.
Not to beat a dead horse, but this is the same message to us. The church was given great power and authority, and we too have misused it. We have, and continue to, participate in violence and sexual abuse just like David. We were supposed to help establish the Kindom of God, and ended up creating Kingdoms of men, far more concerned with theological disagreements than Righteousness or Justice. We were meant to be one body of Christ, and are actually far more interested in bodies that look and think like our own. We were given the Keys of the Kingdom and used them to lock up those who dared to oppose us. We are the man (Big Brother, not Big Lebowski) and we have misused our power and authority to make ourselves comfortable, and keep it that way. Is it any wonder that many people choose to leave as a response to the trauma that has been inflicted on them by those in church leadership? Can we blame them, are we tempted to join them?
The Rest of the Story
David does repent. Psalm 51, which is the accompanying text for this week, is attributed to David after he is confronted by Nathan. However, as Nathan later says, the sword never leaves David’s house. The first son of David and Bathsheba dies; one of David’s sons, Amnon, rapes one of his daughters, Tamar, then scorns her; her brother, Absalom, kills the rapist in an elaborate plan, he then is banished, then returns to usurp David’s throne; David flees but then eventually returns to Jerusalem after Absalom is killed. In the end, more is written by and about David than any other character in the Hebrew Scriptures. He, unlike Saul, is the start of a long dynasty, and his son Solomon becomes king next.
Pop Culture References
There have been a few famous depictions of David and Bathsheba, the most famous being the 1951 movie starring Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward
(Side note: Why is he wearing a Star of David? Why is she so white, and why the ____ is she being bathed by a black woman? The 50’s were wild.)
Of course, there is the classic “Hallelujah” originally written by Leonard Cohen, and sung by lots of people. This is Pentatonix’s version
One of the best renditions of the Nathan story is the veggie tales version, where king Larry steals a rubber ducky from someone else and Nathan (Pa Grape) sings him a song on flanelgram.
Hymn Suggestions
Create in Me a Clean Heart (GTG 422, 423)
There is a Balm in Gilead (GTG 792)
How Great Thou Art (GTG 625)
Forgive our Sins As We Forgive (GTG 444)
Let us Talents and Tongues Employ (GTG 526)
Open My Eyes That I May See (GTG 451)
Links
Bible Project video on the book of 2 Samuel
Prayer of the Day
God of perfection, you give us power and authority, but we misuse it. We are more concerned with our own comfort than your righteousness and justice.Thank you for loving us, even when we fail. Help us to listen to those who point out our flaws so that we can learn from our mistakes. Create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us. Amen.